1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to devices for sizing specific tires and rims to specific vehicles.
2. Prior Art
There exists a rim offset gauge patented in 1990 by Theodore Loucus (U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,307) that supposedly measures fender well clearance and indicates the proper offset needed for a wheel to fit a particular vehicle. However, this tool does not hold an actual tire to accurately determine fitment, which is the most critical aspect of the Tire Mounting Device. Loucus"" tool will only extend vertically approximately 16th to measure a maximum tire size of approximately 33xe2x80x3 overall diameter. It doesn""t have the ability to hold and measure taller tires. The Loucus tool relies on the idea that a tire has a fixed width. It suggests that you mount a real tire on a rim that is the same width that you want to use, inflate it and determine how wide it is. This amount of work reduces the effectiveness of the patented tool. The same tire will measure differently on different width wheels. Even tire manufacturers indicate a tires section width (how wide it is) based on mounting it on a given wheel width. It also fails to utilize actual tires.
The present invention will stretch or compress the sidewalls of an actual tire to give an accurate indication of how wide a tire will be once inflated on a wheel.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become better understood hereinafter from a consideration of the specification with reference to the accompanying drawings forming part thereof, and in which like numerals correspond to parts throughout the several views of the invention.
The name xe2x80x9cTire Mounting Devicexe2x80x9d may be manufactured from steel or aluminum.
It is produced for the automotive industry, specifically automotive tire and wheel retailers.
The Tire Mounting Device shown in the present patent will physically grasp and hold any tire (within its dimensional limitations) up to, but not limited to, 48xe2x80x3 tall light truck tires. The Tire Mounting Device will provide a means to test fit wheels on automobiles, vans, trucks and heavy trucks such as dump trucks.
The Tire Mounting Device is a tool to determine if the offset and backside setting of a given wheel mounted with a tire will fit a vehicle. It does this by having a vertical extension that can be extended to represent a 14xe2x80x3-20xe2x80x3 diameter wheel. Two overlapped sliding horizontal extensions are bolted perpendicular to the vertical extension. One horizontal extension is 6.25xe2x80x3 in length, the other is 12xe2x80x3 in length. This allows the Tire Mounting Device to represent a 7xe2x80x3-16xe2x80x3 wide wheel. It can hold a tire to see if it fits. Also, the two horizontal extensions have teeth on top of the bottom extension that interlock with a tooth on the bottom of the top extension to secure the tool so that it doesn""t slide when a tire is in its grasp. The two horizontal extensions each have a groove cut down the center so they can pivot and slide using a bolt with a washer and wingnut protruding through an angled piece of metal (vertical extension) that connects at the other end to the face plate. This angled piece of metal has notches on each side of the top that the bottom horizontal extension fits into by means of a matching channel. This is a dramatic improvement over the prior art, because the Tire Mounting Device is thereby more versatile and allows for greater accuracy in determining if a tire or wheel will fit properly.
The Tire Mounting Device is a simple tool that anyone can use to determine proper wheel and tire fitment.
The Tire Mounting Device is a tool designed to eliminate the need to test wheels on vehicles. The Tire Mounting Device will be used in place of an actual wheel to determine if a specific wheel and tire combination will fit on a particular vehicle. There are many advantages to using the Tire Mounting Device instead of an actual wheel. It can replicate any wheel from 14xe2x80x3xc3x977xe2x80x3 to 20xe2x80x3xc3x9716xe2x80x3. To understand how the Tire Mounting Device works it is helpful to understand a few technical aspects of measuring a wheel. First, you have the diameter and then the width of the wheel. The centerline is the exact center of the wheel""s width. The mounting pad is the surface of the wheel that actually contacts the vehicle. The relative position of the mounting pad to the centerline is referred to as offset. It is measured in a positive or negative millimeter measurement from the centerline. If the mounting pad is forward (street side) of the centerline, it is positive offset. If the mounting pad is behind the centerline, it is negative offset.
Every wheel has different measurements; Therefore, a wide range of settings is possible.
Trying to determine if a specific wheel will fit a particular vehicle is a difficult job, especially when the wheel is not readily available. The purpose of the Tire Mounting Device is to allow a tire/wheel dealer to adjust the Tire Mounting Device to the specific measurements of the wheel that a customer wants. The dealer can test fit any wheel to a vehicle without the actual wheel. This will eliminate unnecessary freight costs and the risk of damaging an expensive custom wheel while trying to make it fit on the vehicle.
The Tire Mounting Device is critical in today""s custom wheel market. The larger the diameter, the more difficult the task of fitting custom wheels. Adding to this problem is determining what size tire to use. The number of tire sizes is growing by 10% per year, especially in the high performance and light truck market. The Tire Mounting Device will allow for tire dealers to test fit a specific tire to a particular vehicle as well. By combining these two uses, the Tire Mounting Device can revolutionize the aftermarket custom wheel industry. No longer will tire/wheel distributors have to risk loaning a wheel or tire to a tire/wheel dealer. No longer will costly mistakes and accidents in the shop have to occur. The dealer will simply take the measurements of the wheel that the customer wants, select from a group of tires that seems reasonable to use and test fit the application while the customer is in the shop and can witness the results. The tire/wheel dealer and the customer can then be confident that the selected tire and wheel will fit properly.
The xe2x80x9cTire Mounting Devicexe2x80x9d addresses a common problem in the passenger/light truck industry. That problem is the application of non-OEM tires and wheels to specific vehicles. At the present, there is no way to determine if a specific wheel, tire or combination of the two will work on a particular vehicle without test fitting first. This usually entails mounting a wheel on the vehicle, turning the front wheels from left to right and xe2x80x9ceyeballingxe2x80x9d the results. The next step is to mount a tire on the wheel and repeat the test fit process. In doing so, there are many problems that arise from this situation. They are:
1. The wheel distributor doesn""t care to offer a new wheel for test fit because once mounted it becomes difficult to sell.
2. Most automotive retailers are not careful and tend to damage items easily. If they cause damage, they are not willing to purchase the tire or wheel because they cannot make any money. They want to use the wheel and tire free of charge and return them with no responsibility toward ownership unless it fits properly and the customer wants the tire and wheel.
3. Even careful retailers can have accidents causing damage while mounting tires and wheels thus leading to problems returning the tire or wheel. This also leads to problems when trying to sell a damaged wheel to a customer.
The Tire Mounting Device would eliminate the guesswork and trial by allowing the retailer to adjust the Tire Mounting Device to the precise measurements of the wheel and grasp and hold the tire that is needed for the test fit.
The Tire Mounting Device eliminates the chance that a retailer might damage a new wheel. In today""s market high end chrome plated wheels are the most expensive. Larger wheels are more expensive and typically difficult to fit because of their size. Damaging just one rim can cost hundreds of dollars. In contrast, the Tire Mounting Device can be less than a single tire, particularly if made of plastics or resins. Also avoiding the cost of damaging just one wheel may pay for the Tire Mounting Device.
These are several methods of practicing the invention. A rotor would have the tool mounted to it. Also, the vertical slide extension was sketched. Wing nuts and two slide horizontal extensions where one slides within the other allows for different tire widths.
One embodiment might allow a single faceplate to fit any vehicle, regardless of the bolt pattern or relative placement of lug studs to each other. This design did not take into consideration the fact that the front hubs of vehicles have grease caps that would not allow the tool to bolt to the rotor. This version allowed the tool to hold a tire that was wider than the rim width but didn""t allow for narrow tires to be held for test fit.
The vertical extension was designed to be cut with a groove in the center to allow it to slide up and down to the desired height. Alternatively, a series of punched holes may allow two bolts to secure two vertical extensions 43. Next, a xe2x80x98Txe2x80x99 shape was formed at the top of the vertical slide extension to allow for mounting to the two horizontal slide extensions or may also be a 90 degree bend 60 in the vertical extension to allow a bolt 35 to secure the two horizontal extensions 26 and 56. The ends 51 and 30 of the two horizontal slide extensions are curved outward to hold the tire bead in place when test fitting. The two horizontal slide extensions are independent of each other and allow for a wide range of possible settings.
The face plates in the preferred embodiment do not cover all. Openings, center bore hole 2, allow the center bore or grease cap of a vehicle (not shown) to protrude through the faceplate 1 without interference. The faceplate allows for 4 or 5 lug applications with different center bore sizes typically using different plates for large or small bore sized. The thickness of the faceplate is preferably less than 0.50xe2x80x3 thick. Also, the xc2xcxe2x80x3 punched holes at the top and bottom of each face plate were spaced 2xe2x80x3 apart. This was later changed to 1.25xe2x80x3 to eliminate excess material from being needed to produce the vertical extensions.
The initial holes shown, for example, in FIGS. 1 as 3a, 3b, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 for the lug bolts may be punched independently of the center bore hole 2 but are preferably connected to the center bore hole 2 to allow greater flexibility and easier production of the tool.
FIG. 2 is a scale drawing of the faceplate with the small center bore. Angles and holes are marked to indicate position.
The faceplate may be shown bolted to the vertical extension with a bolt and nut. The vertical extension may have the 90 degree angle and bolt connecting the vertical extension to the two horizontal extensions. The lower horizontal extension is 12xe2x80x3 in length compared to 6.5xe2x80x3 for the upper horizontal extension. The additional length (12xe2x80x3) was needed to allow the tool to extend further. Wide wheels such as on Corvettes, Vipers or 4xc3x974 trucks would use wheels of this width, so the tool has to be able to adjust to accommodate these dimensions.
If the tire is wider than the rim vertical lips are not necessary. These are necessary if the tire is narrower than the rim. A small vertical lip (bead clamp) may be added to each horizontal slide. This vertical lip will stretch a narrow tire out so that an accurate test fit can be performed where the tire is not wider than the rim. Both horizontal extensions 26 and 31 have ruler marks engraved on the sides to allow for accurate alignment with the vertical extensions 43 and 44 for the purpose of determining the back side setting. The ruler marks start at the outside edge of the clamping end 30 and 51 with 0xe2x80x3 and run the length of the horizontal extension in increments of xc2xcxe2x80x3.
The two bead clamps are adjustable from approximately 0.55xe2x80x3 to 0.80xe2x80x3 from the outer flange. This distance is approximated. It is needed due to the fact that tire beads (where the tire meets the wheel) have various thickness.
The notch at the bottom is provided so the vertical extension would not hit the lug studs when at its smallest diameter settings (14xe2x80x3 and 15xe2x80x3). The notch allows the tool to retract to its minimum length. There are two horizontal extensions. A tooth on the bottom of the upper horizontal extension fits into the groove on top of the bottom horizontal extension. The grooves are preferably a discrete distance (here 0.50xe2x80x3) apart because rim diameters are in discrete increments, i.e., 6xe2x80x3, 6.5xe2x80x3, 7xe2x80x3, 7.5xe2x80x3, etc.